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Máire Drumm
Born
Máire McAteer

(1919-10-22)22 October 1919
Newry, Ireland
Died28 October 1976(1976-10-28) (aged 57)
Belfast, Northern Ireland
Cause of deathAssassination by gunshots
Known forCivil rights leader, public orator and figurehead of the republican movement
TitleVice-President of Sinn Féin
Term1972–1976
Political partySinn Féin
SpouseJimmy Drumm (1946–her death)[1]
ChildrenSéamus, Seán, Margaret, Catherine and Máire

Máire Drumm (22 October 1919 – 28 October 1976) was the vice-president of Sinn Féin and a commander in Cumann na mBan. She was assassinated by Ulster loyalists while recovering from an eye operation in Belfast's Mater Hospital[2]. Known for her significant contributions to the Republican movement, Drumm played an important role in advocating for civil rights and equality in Northern Ireland and left a lasting impact on the Irish republican community[2].

Early Life

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Máire Drumm’s grave

Máire Drumm (née McAteer) was born in Newry, County Down, to a strong Irish republican McAteer family, where she became the eldest of four siblings.[2] Her mother, Margaret McAteer (née Brown), was active in the War of Independence and the Civil War[2]. Drumm grew up in the Killean (or Killeen), which is a small village in County Armagh, which is approximately 4 miles south of Newry and borders County Louth in the Republic of Ireland[3]. Drumm attended the local national school later attended a convent grammar school in Newry[4]. She played camogie for Killean[2].

A mural in Belfast showing Drumm at Bodenstown

In 1940, her family moved to Dublin and Drumm joined Sinn Féin shortly after this. Her family moved again to Liverpool, where she became involved in the Gaelic League, a non-political organization that aims to promote the Irish language both nationally and internationally[3]. In 1943, her family returned to Northern Ireland and she settled in Belfast, working as a grocer’s assistant.

Drumm's memorial in Killean
Our Lady’s Grammar School, Newry - Where Máire Drumm attended school

During this time, Drumm became an active member of the Republican movement and was especially concerned about the welfare of Republican prisoners.[2] She would frequently visit Belfast prisons in support of Republican prisoners. During one of her visits, she met Jimmy Drumm, a long time Irish Republican and brewery worker. She married Jimmy Drumm in 1947 after he was released from prison.

Drumm and her husband had four children together. During the 1950s and 1960s, her husband spent thirteen years in jail, which left Drumm to do the most of raising their four children. While bringing up their children, Drumm was involved in the Gaelic Athletic Association and promoted camogie and was the administrator of her club, Gael Uladh[2]. She was also involved in the National Graves Association[2], a group that is dedicated to the maintenance of burial sites and memorial shrines for Republicans who have died.

Political Life

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In the late 1960s in Northern Ireland, the Troubles broke out. The Troubles lasted for approximately 30 years until the Good Friday Agreement in 1998.[5] The Troubles began as the result of centuries of conflict where the predominantly Catholic people of Ireland wanted to be free of the predominantly Protestant British rule.[6] The people of Ireland fought for independence and freedom in 1921 and Ireland became split into two countries, the predominantly Catholic Irish Free State and the predominantly Protestant Northern Ireland.[6]

After the Troubles broke out, Drumm became a member of the supreme council of Provisional Sinn Féin and became vice president.[2] Drumm gained notoriety for her provoking speeches and television appearances, along with her encouragement for people to join the IRA.[7]

Drumm also worked on rehousing Catholics that were forcibly removed from their homes due to sectarian attacks.[2]

In July 1970, the British Army closed off the lower Falls area of West Belfast. This was known as the Falls Curfew. The British Army sent troops to search the houses in this area to look for IRA weapons. Four people died as a result of the Falls Curfew and the population turned against the British Army.[8] Drumm led a ‘pram invasion’ to break the Falls Curfew.[9] Drumm led a group of 3,000 women to march past the British army to deliver food and medicine, that was brought in prams, to families that had no access to food under the Falls Curfew.[9] The British Army gave up on the curfew as they did not want to engage with unarmed women.

In 1971, Drumm was imprisoned for inciting people to join the IRA, after telling an audience in Belfast, ‘You should not shout “Up the IRA”, you should join the IRA.’ [2]While serving her sentence, the British Government brought more charges against her for her promotion of objectives of the IRA and her sentence was extended.[9] In court, she refused to accept bail and refused to recognise the court. Drumm was sentenced to 22 days imprisonment for this.[9] Drumm was awarded a place in the ‘Gaelic Hall of Fame’, which, along with her outspoken remarks, led to her being banned from entering the United States of America.

Drumm was imprisoned once again in 1976, when at a rally in West Belfast she called for the destruction of Belfast ‘stone by stone’, unless Republican prisoners were given political status.[10]

Death

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Drumm entered the Mater Hospital in Belfast in September 1976 to undergo surgery on one of her eyes. There were rumors that she planed to move to the south of Ireland after her treatment[2]. On 18 October, her husband read her resignation speech as the vice president of Provisional Sinn Fèin at he annual ard feis and insisted that her support for the leadership was unchanged and that when she her health improved, she would return to her duties[2].

Máire Drumm Memorial

On 28 October 1976, Drumm was shot dead in her hospital bed while recovering from her surgery[11][4]. Two members of the Red Hand Commando entered her hospital room, disguised as doctors, and shot her.

In the aftermath of her death, many questions were raised regarding her safety and the lack of security in the hospital. Samuel Mathers, a former security guard at the Mater Hospital, was the only person convicted in connection to the murder.[12]

Over 30,000 people attended Drumm’s funeral at Milltown cemetery. Members of Cumann na mBan escorted her coffin.[2] The British Army prevented leaders, such as Ruairí Ó Brádaigh, president of Sinn Féin, from attending her funeral[10].

Legacy

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Drumm is labeled a Republican Sinn Féin hero[7]. In 2020, a portrait of Drumm was displayed in the Mayor’s Parlour in Belfast City Hall[13]. The portrait was painted by Belfast artist Tony Bell. The painting was unveiled by her sons, Seamus and Seán Drumm and Former Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams was in attendance of the unveiling.

Gerry Adams said “She was an extraordinary, larger than life woman who was grounded in her local community, heavily involved in the GAA and supporting republican prisoners and their families. Máire Drumm was a leading critic of the orange state and the British army while acting as a strong advocate of Irish national self determination and unity.”[13]

Merlyn Rees, the former British administrator for Northern Ireland, compared Drumm to the fictional character Madame Defarge from Charles Dickens’s novel ‘A Tale of Two Cities’.[10]

Personal Life

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Drumm ran Irish language classes from her home[12] and was active in the Gaelic League. She was actively involved with GAA and fundraised for the opening of Casement Park in 1953[12]. She chaired the Ulster Council of the Camogie Association of Ireland and she was the administrator of her club, Gael Uladh[2].

Drumm’s home in Andersonstown, West Belfast, became a welcoming place for families that were ran out of their homes in other parts of the city following the violence in Belfast in 1969[12]. Drumm’s daughter, also named Máire, said “She wanted to make families who had been forced out feel welcome. She invited one family in each night to get washed and watch TV. That was the kind of woman she was.”[12]

Quotes

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Drumm's speeches and quotations can be found on murals across Northern Ireland. These include:

  • "We must take no steps backward, our steps must be onward, for if we don't, the martyrs that died for you, for me, for this country will haunt us forever.”[14]
  • “You should not shout “Up the IRA”, you should join the IRA.”[2]

References

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  1. ^ Eager, Paige Whaley (2008). From Freedom Fighters to Terrorists: Women and Political Violence. Ashgate Publishing. p. 164. ISBN 978-0-330-49388-8.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Ferriter, D. (2013) Drumm, Máire, Dictionary of Irish Biography. Available at: https://www.dib.ie/biography/drumm-maire-a2775 (Accessed: 02 November 2024).
  3. ^ a b Those that set the stage Douglas Hyde, Eoin MacNeill, and the Gaelic League National Library of Ireland. Available at: https://www.nli.ie/1916/exhibition/en/content/stagesetters/culture/hyde-macneill/ (Accessed: 02 November 2024).
  4. ^ a b Johnston, F. (2016) Máire Drumm – A formidable force, An Phoblacht. Available at: https://www.anphoblacht.com/contents/26390 (Accessed: 08 November 2024).
  5. ^ What You Need to Know About The Troubles (no date) Imperial War Museum. Available at: https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/what-you-need-to-know-about-the-troubles (Accessed: 08 November 2024).
  6. ^ a b Roos, D. (2023) How the Troubles Began in Northern Ireland, History.com. Available at: https://www.history.com/news/the-troubles-northern-ireland (Accessed: 08 November 2024).
  7. ^ a b Murtagh , P. (2016) The ‘true’ republicans: ‘Nothing since 1919 is legitimate’, The Irish Times. Available at: https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/the-true-republicans-nothing-since-1919-is-legitimate-1.2587308 (Accessed: 08 November 2024).
  8. ^ O’Doherty, M. (2024) The Falls Road Curfew 1970: The British Army raid which turned west Belfast against it, Belfast Telegraph. Available at: https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/podcasts/the-beltel/the-falls-road-curfew-1970-the-british-army-raid-which-turned-west-belfast-against-it/a1369793176.html (Accessed: 08 November 2024).
  9. ^ a b c d Anderson, M. (2021a) Máire Drumm our ‘Unmanageable Revolutionary’, An Phoblacht. Available at: https://www.anphoblacht.com/contents/28233 (Accessed: 08 November 2024).
  10. ^ a b c Franks, L. (1976) I.R.A. Salutes Maire Drumm, A Slain Leader, The New York Times. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/1976/11/02/archives/ira-salutes-maire-drumm-a-slain-leader-maire-drumm-given-ira.html (Accessed: 08 November 2024).
  11. ^ White, R.W. COMMITMENT EFFICACY, AND PERSONAL SACRIFICE AMONG IRISH REPUBLICANS, Journal Storage (JSTOR). Available at: https://www.jstor.org/stable/45293466 (Accessed: 09 November 2024).
  12. ^ a b c d e Maire Drumm remembered (2016) Irish Republican News. Available at: https://republican-news.org/current/news/2016/10/maire_drumm_remembered.html (Accessed: 08 November 2024).
  13. ^ a b McGinley, C. (2020) History made as Máire Drumm honoured at City Hall, An Phoblacht. Available at: https://www.anphoblacht.com/contents/27748 (Accessed: 08 November 2024).
  14. ^ Madden, A. (2023) South Armagh IRA commemoration involving Sinn Fein’s Finucane condemned by victims’ group, Belfast Telegraph. Available at: https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/south-armagh-ira-commemoration-involving-sinn-feins-finucane-condemned-by-victims-group/932463429.html (Accessed: 14 November 2024).
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Party political offices
Preceded by

Dáithí Ó Conaill

Joe Clarke

Vice-President of Sinn Féin

1972–1976   With: Dáithí Ó Conaill

Succeeded by

Dáithí Ó Conaill

Joe Cahill

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